The increasing diffusion and application of expertise acquired by jihadists in fabricating “improvised explosive devices” and the extent to which local jihadist cells in the West may or may not be connected to veteran terrorist groups and networks in other countries and regions are vital concerns for Western military forces and security and intelligence agencies as they relate to these veteran terrorist groups and networks in other countries and regions of the world.

Today’s prolonged economic slump is fundamentally different from an ordinary recession. In the aftermath of a severe financial collapse, an economy is at risk of succumbing to a prolonged deflationary undertow. With asset prices reduced, the financial system damaged, unemployment high, consumer demand depressed, and businesses reluctant to invest, the economy gets stuck well below its full employment potential, according to the author. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

The study details the results of its first ever survey of women’s initiatives in law firms. This study was conducted in an attempt to find solutions to the troubling results of the NAWL’s Annual National Survey of Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, which has been published every year since 2006. One of the most startling statistics from that survey that illustrates the stark difference in advancement between men and women is the fact that only about 15% of equity partners are women in the typical large law firm. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

In Washington and Beijing, new administrations prepare to take the reins. Strobe Talbott gives an analysis of the significance of President Barack Obama’s reelection. A child of an African man, raised in a middle-class American home, Obama represents high aspirations for many around the globe. But he’s also a target for those who fear globalization and change. “The same attributes of the 44th president that have made him a prodigy in the eyes of many Americans – and much of the rest of the world – have also made him a target of unprecedented mistrust and hatred,” writes Talbott. Obama is qualified to lead in an era of globalization, and Talbott points out two areas that demand political courage: strengthening the global nuclear non-proliferation regime with ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and leading an international effort to slow the process of human-induced climate change. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

The use of biomass as an energy feedstock is emerging as a potentially viable alternative to address U.S. energy security concerns, foreign oil dependence, rural economic development, and diminishing sources of conventional energy. Biomass (organic matter that can be converted into energy) may include food crops, crops for energy (e.g., switchgrass or prairie perennials), crop residues, wood waste and byproducts, and animal manure. Most legislation involving biomass has focused on encouraging the production of liquid fuels from corn. Efforts to promote the use of biomass for power generation have focused on wood, wood residues, and milling waste.

Most parents of teenagers are concerned about what their teenage children do online and how their behavior could be monitored by others. Some parents are taking steps to observe, discuss, and check up on their children’s digital footprints, according to the survey. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

As part of a larger scheme to regulate drugs and other controlled substances, federal law prohibits the cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana. No exception is made for marijuana used in the course of a recommended medical treatment. Indeed, by categorizing marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the federal government has concluded that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” Yet 18 states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized medical marijuana by enacting exceptions to their state drug laws that permit individuals to grow, possess, or use marijuana for medicinal purposes. In contrast to the complete federal prohibition, these 19 jurisdictions see medicinal value in marijuana and permit the drug’s use under certain circumstances.